The Disenchantments

First, JESUS H CHRIST LOOK AT THAT COVER. Secondly, a graduating school, not having a clue what you’re doing, madly in love with your best friend, road trip, band tour story? Dear God, I needed like years ago.

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev’s band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she’s abandoning their plans – and Colby – to start college in the fall. But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev’s already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what’s next?

I haven’t read a good road trip story since On the Road (the ultimate road trip story btw) so this has been a long time coming, plus that cover, I have coveted this book ever since I first saw it on the shelves of Waterstones and after reading a Nina LaCour book at Christmas, I had been desperately searching for this and now, now I have it!

This is a multi layered story, on one hand, we have this group of kids who have just finished school and are ready for the next chapter of their lives, some of them know exactly what they’re doing and others don’t have a clue after being left high and dry by their plans, then you have the I’m in love with my best friend and not only does she not feel the same way, but she has also let me down in the most hurtful way possible, then you have the kids going on the ultimate road trip across the country and there is the teenage band on tour and the figuring out your path and oh God this book is so good!

Not only is this raw and teenage in its hyperbole induced drama (she LIED TO ME!) (GROWING UP IS HARD!) etc, etc, but it is also engaging and fun and makes me wish that I had been in a more successful teenage band and that I had been on tour and that I had been on a roadtrip. There is also the added bonus of BISEXUALS YAAAAY! Our lead girl, Bev, the epitome of the teenage manic pixie dream girl, who our narrator, Colby, is in love with gets with boys and girls without abandon, which is not at all commented on by the other members of her crew and even Colby, who I liked a lot by the way, despite having all these complicated feelings for her is not at all fazed by her choosing other boys and girls over him. Which was super refreshing.

I’ve not had much time to read this month, but I am oh so glad that one of the books that did grasp my attention was this. Fun, well written and with a wonderful host of flighty, teenage characters, this will not only look pretty on your shelves, but you also won’t regret picking it up.